Tag Archives: Huffington Post

The United Nations Foundation is an unwavering supporter of global health, from prevention of malaria deaths to polio eradication (in partnership with Research!America, the Global Health Council and others the UN Foundation held a briefing about the importance of the polio vaccine in 2011). With support from Johnson & Johnson and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, their latest initiative is the Global Mom Relay, an innovative campaign to raise money and awareness in support of women and children’s health around the globe. Until May 8, there will be a daily story about motherhood on the Huffington Post from a variety of global authors. Each time a relay post is shared via Facebook, Twitter or email, Johnson & Johnson (a Research!America member) and the Gates Foundation (a long-time Research!America supporter) will donate $5 to one of four UN Foundation initiatives helping women and children around the globe: Girl Up, the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action and the Shot@Life campaign.

The two-month reprieve from sequestration agreed to as part of the “deal” to avert the fiscal cliff is a partial victory for all who worked hard to save research, giving us much-needed additional time to make our case. We need be smart in using that time well, because the delay was paid for through a combination of new revenue and spending cuts that could further drain the pool of dollars used to fund research. The fact that many conservative members of Congress expressed outrage that the fiscal cliff deal didn’t include larger spending cuts underscores this point. The debt ceiling will need to be raised within the next two months, adding fuel to the fire. And efforts to pass a budget for fiscal year 2013 rather than rely on a full-year continuing resolution throws another variable into the mix.

The bottom line is that the scenario for the next few months leaves science quite vulnerable, as reported in Scientific American, in which Research!America VP Ellie Dehoney is quoted. The palpable uptick in articles and opinion pieces raising awareness about the ongoing threat to research from a wide variety of stakeholders, including the Huffington Postpiece by Research!America Board member Dr. Victor Dzau, president and CEO of the Duke University Health System, must continue; in fact we have to go into overdrive. In my last letter, I shared a CBS Evening News segment we worked to arrange about the impact of sequestration – I’m told it has gone viral! Please keep the momentum going by sharing it with your networks.

As you may know, Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) has been named chairman of the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, which sets funding for NIH, CDC and AHRQ. Rep. Kingston previously chaired the subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, and the Food and Drug Administration. He was supportive of increases for FDA despite the budget-cutting pressure that faced the 112th Congress. Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-AL) has been named chairman of the agriculture subcommittee. Rep. Aderholt has demonstrated an interest in combating disease and disability. We look forward to working with these leaders and their Democratic counterparts to secure the resources that research-related agencies need to fulfill their multi-faceted missions.

In the wake of the tragedy in Newtown, the White House is looking for feedback on anti-violence strategies from organizations in the mental health community. The email address is policyideas@ovp.eop.gov. Note that the deadline is January 5. The Cure Alliance for Mental Illness has launched a petition calling on Congress and the president to increase funding for mental illness research. Our community will have an important role to play in ensuring that time does not dilute the urgency behind efforts to reduce violent acts like that in Newtown. Research is undoubtedly part of the answer.